(Rant) Spell Categorization Complaints + The Seven Schools of Magic

I hate the schools of magic most games / settings choose for themselves. The only real reason is pedantry. I was thinking about making my own and came to a conclusion. Let's nitpick these.

Dungeons & Dragons
The schools of D&D Magic (depending on edition, world, writer, etc.) can be roughly boiled down to these;

• Abjuration
• Conjuration
• Divination
• Enchantment
• Evocation
• Illusion
• Necromancy
• Transmutation

Already, we are seeing a problem. We have this extremely nice naming scheme; abjurATION, conjurATION, divinATION, and then we get to Enchantment, Illusion, Necromancy... what the hell is this. Where's the nice naming scheme? If every type of magic or spell has its own unique naming scheme, that would be one thing, but this half measure is just infuriating. Every spell school should either end in a "-mancy" or "-urgy" or "-ation"; the title essentially being the action or verb that the magical school does or can do. "Conjuration" creates things, "Transmutation" changes things into other forms, and so on.

Secondly, the name-to-effects connection of the schools is also, in my opinion, lacking. It is difficult to directly tell what a Wizard can do or is good at based on these schools or their knowledge of them alone. Now from an in-universe perspective, it is fine- each school is named and codified based on what they do or their general group of effects that the spells of that school accomplish. The issue for me is I want the spell school to not only fit within this world-space of understandable effects, but ALSO grant some kind of worldbuilding or character-defining effects that each school could have. For example, if you were traveling in a fantasy world and heard tales of a "Mighty Conjurer" living out in a cave somewhere- you could probably assume that Wizard or Witch would be quite capable of summoning powerful creatures to attack you if you dared enter, or would perhaps be impossible to catch since they could just teleport away. Such concepts feel valuable in a game system-to-worldbuilding space; creating more texture and possible avenues for gameplay- except it doesn't work for every school. What exactly would a Transmuter be good at? Would they be good at escape or entry- given levitation or being able to open locked doors with magic? Would they be more combat focused- capable of buffing allies and cursing enemies with various spells? Are they more helpful support characters; able to transform various items into other useful items- all of these could fit under the umbrella, making it almost too broad in certain categories, but too specific in others. You can't just take the spell school's name at face value- as one could extrapolate "Magic that changes/alters stuff" could do basically fucking anything. Oh it can make you tougher- like Abjuration? Oh it can make objects that are stationery move- like Evocation's creation or control of energy? Could one extrapolate this to say that it can make people do what you want by "altering their minds"? No- this is covered by other magic schools- but you can see how trying to apply this with logic starts to get a little out of control given its vagueness.

It also would allow different Magic-User type characters to differentiate themselves in the party more; though largely unnecessary, as I don't think anyone has an issue differentiating different Wizard characters given the inherent differences in how they amass and prepare spells, or even their preference for spells if both have the same spell list, compared to say a Fighter or Rogue type class which would be almost totally identically if they shared a similar level; only have equipment, stats, or feats to really differentiate them.

I also just hate the D&D spell schools mostly for being a bit misleading as well. "Enchantment" sounds like an interesting school- something akin to weak magic spells emulating some of our favorite pop-culture Wizardry; like the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia, or any number of the small useful "Charm" spells from Harry Potter. But no; Enchantment spells almost exclusively focus on mind-affecting and social spells- things like Sleep and Charm are Enchantment. This actually almost feels like the opposite of the above paragraph, where the designers of these schools tied themselves to the etymology of the word "Enchant" to the title of a possible character archetype or creature to encounter- being Enchanter. An Enchanter being able to control and manipulate people's minds is a very powerful and scary fantasy archetype- especially played up in recent years due to what has been a more "realistic" reaction to mind control and other forms of mental-manipulation magic as being pure horror or extremely morally questionable, if not downright always off the table. Your & my opinions on this are totally irrelevant on this topic I should mention- it is simply an observation. However, it doesn't fit that other schools of magic feel much more "invented" in their categories- Necromancy possibly being the worst, since it has nothing at all to do with divination of the dead (other then speak with dead) and instead relates to souls, life energy, and raising the dead as minions or other "death themed" spells. This further muddles the waters as Necromancy could mean a powerful offensive caster with various drain life abilities, summoning/raising minions, budget healing magic, powerful buffs in the form of undead transformations, and so on and so on- making Necromancy feel like it fits more in an Elemental magic system as the "Death" element over in this more acamedic, non-elemental, effects/use focused system like what we are discussing- which is more focused on the arcane, scholastic, non-spiritual forms of magic seen in D&D, Dying Earth, Elder Scrolls-ian style pop culture Wizardry.

Another more minor issue I want to add here? The implied dynamic of the setting- at least in regards of healing or holy magic being its own separate "thing" from the list here. It's not a huge deal since it's covered by Clerics and important for the resource management side of the game. But I kind-of want to have healing magic be its own category for what I'm going for here. More on this later.

Finally- we have the redundancy. We'll get more to this later, but the redundancy of this list is probably among the worst of various spell-schools I have seen. The fact we have both "Enchantment" and "Illusion" on the same fucking list, both mind/social/perception effecting spells is a sin. Now it's important to state that I COMPLETELY understand why this is the way it is. Illusionist and Illusion-Magic are very thematically different then Enchanters and Enchantment. However, I just don't like there being two-too similar spells like this with similar cases. Even in practice they aren't that similar, but the concepts are thematically muddled enough that I don't like the crossover.

Harry Potter
This one will be brief. I don't really hate the spell schools in the HP universe due to them being, in their own words, "vague and ill-defined", but I want to touch on them momentarily.

• Transfiguration
• Charm
• Jinx
• Hex
• Curse
• Counter-Spell
• Healing Spell
  

These spell schools are almost entirely focused on the use of a spell, over its effect or elemental bearing. Obviously, having three different schools for three levels of just "offensive spell" going from annoying to harmful to dangerous is right out- but I respect the attempt to try and fit them all in there. You can't just so easily fit them all into one category either; just calling it "Dark Magic" or something would simplify the system too much. Perhaps we could simplify the categories down to just "Dark Magic" and "Light Magic" to make it simple- with a third "Gray Magic" or perhaps unaligned spells being for purely transformative or utility-based effects on changing objects or the world. Maybe take a page out of Final Fantasy with Red Mages being a jack-of-all-trades kind of caster- thus Red/Blue/Color Magic would related to the various non-good and non-evil type of spells. This, however, transforms the system too much.

I honestly don't mind this system for two reasons. The first being that Wizards in the HP universe are more "full formed" in terms of magical abilities- they don't just cast spells but ALSO brew potions and ALSO ride brooms and ALSO do psychic combat and ALSO have other magic powers too; spells are just a small portion of the full kit, which means that specialization are far more specific then something as broad as a "type of spell". The second, and perhaps even more specific reason, is that I absolutely LOVE Charm spells as a rule. I love the idea of commodify and gamifying the mystical secondary abilities or lifestyles of various magic people in fantasy media; the self cleaning dishes, the magic clocks that wind themselves up, the unrolling chests that store way more stuff in them then they should, the little magical bubbles and lights coming from various trinkets and potions on the shelf to make a "full" magic user experience from the aesthetic and description alone. Sadly- only useful in game terms, tabletop or otherwise, for flavor- being mostly beyond flattening down into rules and pressing all the fun out of it. I just figured I should mention it; because what other blogpost am I going to be able to write this up for?

FATE
Yes, the video game. The Diablo clone for kids where you have a cat or dog that goes back to town and sells shit for you. I wanted to mention this one because, exactly as above, it's very short and simple. It also includes Charms. My weird obsession with magic "charms", or being a Wizard in a fantasy world who specializes in "Charms" magic, extended to this game where "Charms" was almost entirely based around summoning. But let's go over it all the same.

• Attack Spells
• Defense Spells
• Charm Spells
  

I actually really like this system. In the game, magic effects you wouldn't think are typecast into each category based on how its used and general playstyle. For example, Attack Spells cover both direct offensive attacks AND curses or debuffs inflicted on enemies. You can cast fire or lightning from Attack Spells but so too can you cast slow or weakness. (As a side note; I find such concepts odd- as you'd think a character specializing in Attack Spells would want to use damaging spells. This pretty much invalidates the concept of playing a curse-heavy mage that kills foes with weapons or summons- but given the realtively low investment in each school to use its spells, with most scaling being either damage (useful) or duration (almost pointless) then I suppose it makes sense). Defensive Magic also includes healing, buffs, and general defense- especially in regards to the elements. Finally, Charm magic as stated above is almost totally used for summons- with higher levels giving you stronger creatures, longer-lasting creatures, and higher numbers of creatures depending on the spell itself. Interestingly, Charms stays true to its name as being a useful category of utility magic as with very little investment you can get the "Identify" spell, acting as a Scroll of Identify with unlimited uses, no inventory space taken up, and a low mana cost. Charms also encompasses the few other utility spells the game has; like identifying items or opening up a town portal, so it gets some points.

Given my strange penchant for playing games in the most obtuse way possible- such as wanting to play a Warrior who uses magic to weaken foes instead of just putting all my points into strength, or playing a Melee fighter character who doesn't use armor and relies on magic or evasion; this system doesn't work very well save for Charms, which does make you feel like a cool Summoner and magic-item master.

However, it doesn't fit the arcane fantasy magical universe sort of vibe I'm going for; the D&D list is better despite its faults; yet the FATE system is perfect for the medium it is going for- a simple dungeon crawling video game. Still, it strains my immersion a little too much for a more "fully realized" setting- maybe a world where magic is incredibly new, only capable of being used in a single specific dungeon or place- with the three colors or flavors of magic seeming to be the three general categories of spell people can specialize or get better in. Still, I thought it was interesting enough to mention.

The Quest
This is little-known Indie Game I got on Steam during a previous sale. I actually quite like this game; it feels very much like a scaled down version of something like Daggerfall or Morrowind- an open world with several quests and viable character playstyles. Also, not realizing it, but the game was originally made for mobile and has a TON of expansions not even ported to PC. The artstyle is probably my favorite part, having some very nice hand-drawn graphics, but the gameplay got a bit repetitive. Why am I mentioned it here? Because it has a big list of skills with many types of magic. How does this game split up its magic spells into schools?

• Attack Magic
• Environment Magic
• Healing Magic
• Mind Magic
• Protection Magic
• Undead Magic

Yeah, no. Fuck you. Next.

Elemental Systems
Instead of listing a single game, TTRPG, or source for this- I'm just going to go off on Elemental Systems entirely. I've talked about this one a lot.

Not every Elemental System is the same, so I can't give a universal list. Obviously pretty much all of them are going to have the big four of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air- unless it's a Chinese inspired elemental system instead with Wood and Metal making the list. I think elemental magic spell/differentiation systems are very strong thematically for obvious reasons. I think my idealized system would be something like;

• Fire
• Water
• Earth
• Air
• Life (Creation)
  
• Death (Destruction)
  
• (Arcane/Void/Purple/Other?)
  

This grants the full spectrum of possible elemental configurations without getting into annoying redundancies and ultra-specific use cases of spells. The text in paranthesis indicates alternate names or possibly interpretations of these elements. As stated above, I think elemental systems are VERY strong thematically. You could easily imagine a character specializing in one or more elements- a Fire Wizard having all sorts of useful offensive powers, or an Air-Bender being good at travel and evasion. Life Magic can also be strongly coded as holy or good-guy magic; being able to heal wounds or damage the undead, as well as summoning animals or plants ala nature or drudic magic found in other games or universe. Death magic is also nice; once again it follows the same problems as with "Necromancy" but I feel its more appropriate given the elemental and thematic width of each school of magic in this system.

However, once again, elemental systems suffer from two main problems. The first is the rather limited lack of scope outside of elements. Now- a CREATIVE DM or writer could adapt to this easily; increasing the scope of each magic school to encompass or build out to various other things that aren't simply the element. For example; you may find elemental systems limiting because you can't do things like fate or luck related curses or spells if you had a full elemental system of just the four main elements; but this could be subverted and combined into the other schools. Fire grants luck at the cost of burning you later as a cost. Fire can not only create and conjure fire, but also give people boiling hot fevers or increasing their passion by putting their hearts ablaze- the thematic connections between the possible uses or targets of magic in the world and the elements themselves become a part of the magic, and in a way work better then a more academic or "nonelemental' spell-school system, as the elements themselves are made mystic and all-encompassing. The above system is also great as it basically shits inspiration and worldbuilding resources for writing plots, characters, or mystic underpinnings of the universe. Places of great natural importance are tied to one or more elements, granting mystic powers to those who reach them on a pilgrimage of sorcery. Elemental Wizards have personalities fitting their elements. Each elemental magic can be cancelled or weakened by the presence of their opposite- Air magic being incredibly weak underground and Fire magic being weak in the rain and so on. This is pretty much perfect for a fantasy world- but once again isn't exactly what I'm looking for in trying to make a sort of non-elemental, non-spiritual based magic system for spell categorization.

Dominions
Also talked about on this blog at least a few times, the Dominions series is a group of high-fantasy strategy video games where you play as a Pretender-God trying to kill all the others and ascend to glory. The game has a very thematically strong magic system of various elemental and sorcerous paths. While it is somewhat specific to its setting, it is broad enough to be widely applicable to multiple fantasy settings and I have stolen these elements/paths for my own games before.

• Fire
• Air
• Water
• Earth
• Astral
• Death
• Nature
• Blood
  

This system I really like; as it encompasses the mythology and magical underpinnings of an Elemental magic system BUT also covering everything else you may need- not only magic in terms of what characters could do but also the setting or cosmology itself. You can also imagine what each mage who specializes in each type of magic might look like- Nature mages being witches and druids. Blood mages being evil cultists and summoners. Death mages get to be necromancers- Astral mages being the theurges or soothesayers- controllers of fate and the stars- also tied strongly to themes of having the "fifth element" or element above the other elements in some way. Even more appropriate given Astral Magic's use in communions. Not unheard of outside of Dominions; but extremely fun and setting defining once it is introduced. Crosspath magic allows for yet more versatility and explains many things and how this relatively simple and small list of Paths could be used to encompass almost any magical effect you can think of- the game even has a nice in-game and universe categorization of Magic User based on their paths; with the first four paths of the basic elements being what Wizards use, and the latter four paths being what Sorcerors use.

It's also important to note that Dominions doesn't have quite the same scope or scale as the other games or universes on this list; most are focused on single characters (such as a TTRPG character or video game protagonist), where as Dominions is much more focused on mass combat and grand enchantments- meaning that Dominions Mages are very powerful and appropriately so.

...Of course that was all true, until the Illwinter development team introduced Glamour as a new magic path and fucked all this up! The newest Dominions game just came out as of the time of this writing- creating an Illusion, dream, and mind-based school of magic. While I haven't actually played with it yet to see how it works or how fun it is- I simply detest this inclusion into the above list of magic schools. While it wasn't perfect before, Illusion was moreso a subcategory of magic that fit into other schools- like how most Illusion spells were Air Magic related. I actually really liked this, as it created connections and concepts in setting that any nation with access to Air-Magic had the capacity to cast various illusion and trickery spells- and indeed most of the nations who did have high level Air Magic had the capacity for it. I mean, if any school of magic should be split up, it should have been water- thematically speaking at least. Because water was basically the number one most important school of magic for all underwater nations (go figure) AND because it was also used for all cold or ice related magic spells as well; leading to the strange in-setting weirdness of the Nifelheim Ice-Giants also being really good at invading water provinces and casting whirlpool spells. Makes sense in terms of the path, less in universe and less in gameplay. Personally, I would have preferred illusion magic remain a sub-category- just letting the various Elvish nations having unique spells related to it- much like how Man had a very unique set of spells relating to Nature magic- spell songs- allowing for cheap and safe communions at the cost of their power and casting speed. Perfect for a bunch of half-fae wise women descended from the Tir'na'nog, less so for the druids or wild beastmen blood sorcerers- hence why it was specific to that nation. Oh well. I've never even won a multiplayer game of Dominions, so what do I know?

Ars Magica
Another huge inspiration. Ars Magica straddles the line between elemental & arcane distinctions for spell schools, in this game called "Arts", but has the knock-on effect of working really well for my purposes here. I feel as though I don't need to list all of the forms in their latin names, but just know there are ten of them comprising everything from the classic elements, to the human form, to magic itself. But how those forms are used is by the techniques, meaning how they are manipulated.

• Creo (Create, Restore, Repair, Replenish, etc.)
• Intellego (Understand, See, Divination, etc.)
• Muto (Transform, Change)
• Perdo (Destroy, Lessen, Weaken)
• Rego (Control, Move)
  

The useful thing here is, by simply taking this list of techniques and removing the forms, we now have a general purpose list of magic spell schools or verbs we could use to serve as our spell schools! However, it isn't perfect for me for two reasons. One, the latin names, while fitting for a medievalish historical setting, don't exactly fit for a fantasy world and two, in regards to the spell effects or categories fit within each; some of them are ill-defined or extremely narrow in application. Rego is a good example, seeming almost useless for certain forms (just look at the example spells for Rego Imaginem), where as other techniques (Creo) are so broad they basically encompass anything you can do with the magical arts. With that being said- it's a really good list and will serve as the backbone for my magic schools I'll share in a bit- that and one other less obscure property.

Elder Scrolls
Here's the other big one. Besides D&D, Elder Scrolls has one of the strongest spell-school categorizations out there. Once again- it is quite fitting for its own genre and what it's trying to do- but there have been lots of bumps in the road. This is further complicated by the fact that each game in the series changes, removes, or moves around the various spells and effects from school to school! For this, we'll go with Oblivion/Morrowinds schools.

• Conjuration
• Illusion
• Destruction
• Restoration
• Alteration
• Mysticism
  

These Schools are also pretty evocative. I especially like the implementation of "Restoration" as an actual school of magic- a very fitting word and usage for magical healing. I especially like it over "healing magic" or "life magic" because it fits not only healing but also restoring other attributes and curing diseases without it being as broad as "Creo" from above. My only issue is the term being used as "Restoration" but this spell school also includes increasing, empowering, buffing, etc. various attributes or stats as well, which is not implied by the name. (Also, in Oblivion, Restoration is where the drain attribute spells go, and not even in the criminally underused Mysticism. What the fuck were they thinking?) I don't think this is that bad of a trade off of clarity since the school would be too focused otherwise, but it is still a slight imperfection.

However; the names, once again, are flawed. Same issue as D&D, though to a lesser extent. And we have a traitor in our midst. "Destruction" fits the naming scheme, but is extremely divorced to the actual effect or "magical tool" used by the spells within this school. It does destroy things; but by conjuring elemental forces. Earlier games in the series (Morrowind) did a better job of this, since some Destruction spells could also do simpler things like damaging attributes or equipment- but I dislike this vagueness. To me, a "Destruction" school would be focused totally on magic effects that just damage things- not elemental blasts or manipulation of energy. Mysticism is of course right out- but I think if you had a list of magic schools and had just ONE that violated the naming/type conventions, Mysticism would be the best choice for that. It's the "other" school, with weird and freaky powers and meta-magic that other schools of magic don't have. Also- if ANY school on this list should be able to trap Souls, Mysticism would fit. It's sad it was axed for Skyrim but, in a way, I've grown to like it. I feel that using Conjuration for the spell was less interesting then making Soul-Trapping its own mechanic- relying on rare weapons or maybe forcing the player to kill a target with a magic staff (actually giving them a reason to use them?) to trap souls- but not giving players a way to farm souls would probably be bad form and not helpful to the gameplay experience. It makes sense to stick it here if you don't have Mysticism. But to the negatives again- we run into Illusion magic here a second time- somehow even worse given it directly changes targets minds for a large number of the spells instead of just actually creating illusions. Better for a video game where type and effects are combined- worse for a fantasy world's wizarding etymology.

Now- Alteration. I know I complained about "Transmutation" for D&D spells up above for being too broad and ill-fitting, but I actually think Alteration works much better for the School of Transmutation. While there is no "Alterationist" mage you can use in the same way "Transmuter" rolls off the tongue, the school of Alteration just fits better for that sort of all-encompassing "changing" things magic that fits the school. In the games, Alteration is basically the catch-all school for weird utility and helpful effects not directly used in combat; besides Mage Armor; most of it is doing things like unlocking locks, walking on water, flight, and so on.

Finally- Illusion. Illusion actually works great in this system; due to the relative low power level of TES mages compared to other media and due to the fact, in the context of a video game, Illusions can comfortably encompass everything you can do to manipulate NPCs- make them calm or fight each other, make them not notice you, improve disposition. Skyrim also grants some new interesting effects, like the "Muffle" spell that just reduces sound- fitting for mage-thieves. It also bafflingly includes Clairvoyance into Illusion, which is obviously a cut effect for Mysticism. While I quite like it from a mechanics perspective- it honestly doesn't fit the name. Most of the effects of "Illusion" are just directly mind-effecting magic- Enchantment works better as a name here. But once again, both names break our naming convention. We're getting close though.

Homebrew- Seven Schools of Magic
When the ancient mages first decided to categorize magic into various schools- the more scholastic and less religious methodology of magical convention was born. Divorced from the concept of the natural forces and elements of the world- these schools became the general grouping of magical skills of which different mages often specialize or study in their pursuits. There were seven distinct schools, which are-

1. Alteration
2. Conjuration
   
3. Restoration
4. Evocation
5. Divination
6. Abjuration
7. Domination

These schools are based on the techniques of Ars Magica divided into a few more schools to provide more specificity and round out the list. Creo is split into Conjuration, Restoration, and Evocation as its application is too broad in a more traditional fantasy game with specific wizard schools. Conjuration makes new things or summons creatures, restoration heals or replenishes, and evocation conjures up energy or power in specific- ie; blaster magic.

Abjuration is another special note. Abjuration in D&D terms is mostly defensive spells and anti-magic- and while it certainly can do this here- Abjuration is being more used as a general term and as a replacement school for the Perdo effects. Abjuration lessens, weakens, rebukes, cancels, snuffs out, or otherwise reviles in all cases. It is everything Destruction does except summoning up elemental blasts, which is Evocation instead. Alteration lets you turn invisible and makes things lighter so they can float or fly- Evocation can maybe let you fly but only if you're summoning wind and you have a kite like you're Aang or whatever.

Finally- the most original school here is Domination. Domination is a perfect fit for our Necromancy, Mind-Control, Enchantment, and otherwise bad-guy school of magic. It's name both fits our naming convention, has a negative and evil connotation, and describes exactly what the school does. Domination is how a Wizard bends lesser minds, controls emotions, animates objects, or creates curses and unbreakable vows and things of that nature.

And yes, that's right, there is no Illusion magic. I know, I know. For some, that's a dealbreaker. Fair enough- but we all know Illusion is kinda an afterthought. Most "illusions" could just be fit under Conjuration (for false images and sounds) or Alteration (for glamours) if you really needed to come down to it. Domination could already be used to control minds or bodies- meaning we have little need for the extra school. I get it's a staple of fantasy and all- but Illusion magic sucks anyway.

6 Spells made by your Apprentice

These are some spells made by your dumbass apprentice. Roll on the table every downtime turn they have no assignment and have time to just screw around in the arcane laboratory.

6 Spells made by your Apprentice
[1] Broken String Repair
Useful to repair a broken string on a lute, a strap, a drawstring for a bag of holding, etc. When the spell is cast, a length of the caster's hair flies out and takes the place of the cord. You still have to snip your hair off at the right length, as your hair is tied to where the string should go. If you have short hair, it'll hurt a lot more and suck up some body hair to finish the string too.

[2] Firestarter
Lights the end of your finger on fire, like a match. This fire deals no damage and doesn't hurt, at least. The fire on your finger can be used to light other fires- the fire on your finger goes out after a full turn. No, you can't turn it off early.

[3] Suction Cleaning
This spell creates a magical vortex of air in a container or bag that sucks up the air in a room; along with it taking in the dust, particles, and small insects around the place. Useful for cleaning. However, this spell has two drawbacks. First, if used in a space without good ventilation, it will create an airless place where you can't breathe. Second, if too much is sucked up into a bag, it becomes highly pressurized and will explode when opened, dropped, or pierced dealing 1d4 damage from a powerful sonic blast, that deafens for the same number of rounds.

[4] Pressure Finger
Creates a pillar of "pressure" that extends from the end of a finger pointing in whatever direction the finger is pointing. The closer one pushes their finger towards the next solid object in its path, the more pressure is applied. This pressure can be used to press switches, activate pressure plates, knock small objects off shelves, etc. at about a distance of 10 feet. Can only do one "thing" per casting.

All of the effects of this spell could be replicated by an (unlimited use) 10 ft pole.

[5] Bone Blast
By holding a bone by one end and pointing the other, this spell releases the death-energy within the dead body part and fires it out like a roman candle. The caster must make a d20 + Int modifier To-Hit roll vs the target's AC for the bolt to connect.

Deals 1d3 damage for a human bone, 1d6 damage for a giant monster bone, 2d6 for a demigod bone, and so on. The bone is splintered apart and charred black after being used. Actually not a bad spell, but needs a bone and magic missile is probably still more useful.

[6] Wickerweave
Requires several sticks, twigs, and bits of straw. The resulting parts are sown together over the course of 1d4 turns to create a piece of furniture, equipment, or tool. The wicker version of the item works exactly as well as a base version of the item would work without bonuses but is made of wicker; so a wicker shield acts as a regular shield of its size but burns up if hit with fire, etc.

The wicker item, after being made, works as intended for one turn. Then, it ceases its enchantment and will fall apart or become as brittle as anything made of wicker.

12 Sorcerer-Corpse Hazards

You've killed the Sorcerer. The evil witch lies dead at your feet. Now you're going to loot the corpse; except something still manages to kill or maim you. It could be a trap or final posthumous curse laid by the Wizard in spite, or it could be just a natural result of the Sorcerer's vile biological meddling with their own body.

Roll on the table for what hazard awaits within the Wizard's body, which usually only activates if they are looted or you attempt to burn them (cremating Wizards is common practice, so they can't try to come back from the dead). Apprentice Wizards only have a 1 in 6 chance of having a booby-trapped body, regular Wizards have one, Archmages and Sorcerer Lords may have 2 or more.

12 Sorcerer-Corpse Hazards

[1] The Sorcerer's mouth suddenly starts to spew a massive cloud of black-green smoke. The smoke deals 2d6 damage per round you breathe it in, no save if you were the one to touch the corpse. Every roll of a one deals one damage and also reduces your maximum hit pitons by one, permanently. The smoke clears in one round if you're outside and one exploration turn in an enclosed space.

The mouth and throat of the Sorcerer is stained bright green all the way down to the lungs. Both lungs in the body will be bloated and leathery, with extra gas-sac chambers growing like pustules on the sides. This Sorcerer was probably trying to acclimate themselves to an arcane atmosphere.

[2] You hear a tinny screeching coming from the Sorcerer's ears. Many years worth of “saved” conversations come billowing out of their ear holes, loudly stacking on top of each other and building the volume to a crescendo. Every round, roll a wandering encounter check. Those with sensitive ears, like Elves, must cover their ears with their hands and can't do anything else. Every round, all magic items in your possession have a 1 in 6 chance to fire off as a magic word or phrase is replayed from the irritating static of noises.

The noise will end after 1 exploration turn for a normally aged (old) Wizard, but may last for an hour or more for a truly ancient immortal spellcaster. You can also muffle the noise by stuffing the earholes shut or covering the dead corpse's head with pillows and blankets to stifle the racket.

[3] One of the Sorcerer's hands randomly shoots up and tries to grab and claw at you. It's not a zombie, the limb if just firing wildly. If it manages to scratch you (attack roll at +2), your matching hand on your body will start to act strangely every night, and the Wizard's hand goes inanimate again. This hand will try to scratch arcane symbols into any nearby objects when you sleep, or in your flesh if no objects are available. The hand also compulsively (saving throw to resist) touches, opens, and clutches spell books or arcane artifacts. Your hand seems to be trying to spread knowledge of magic through the drawing of runes and esoteric diagrams of things you don't want to understand.

If you cut off the Sorcerer's hand while it is flailing, it turns into a 1 HD monster that puppets the hand as its body, though in truth it is a mass of tentacles inside from an extradimensional monster, puppeting the Wizard's hand and granting enhanced dexterity for lapping at the caster's soul. If you cut off the Sorcerer's hand after it has already scratched somebody, the tentacles are already dead and it slides out like a snail boiled in its shell.

[4] The Sorcerer's body lies still, until the moment something burning or red hot touches it. It poofs into white powder, which, after one round, ignites and explodes as a 4d6 damage fireball in the containing area. Those who have managed to survive this booby trap attest to the fact that the Wizard's body smells like bread, as the white powder is in fact their entire body turned into very fine flour.

It is also possible to use a grind stone to change the Wizard who cast this spell into flesh and bone into bread. Eating this bread makes any normal human sick, but gives Wizards an easy feeling of nostalgia and comfort; you can make 30 Wizard rations from a bread-wizard corpse.

[5] The Wizard's eyeballs retain a shimmering quality after death, eyes wide open in death, as though staring right at you. If you touch one of the eyeballs at all, cover the face with a cloth, or try to close the eyelids of the corpse the eyeballs explode and squirt metal-burning acid at you. Make a saving throw; on failure you take 4d4 acid damage. The acid can burn through anything except stone and has a 1 in 6 chance to ruin your armor if you were exposed to it while wearing armor.

The acid in the eyes is a very common enhancement Sorcerers put into themselves. Injection of the acid causes early blindness, cataracts, and hallucinations, as well as a permanent “sunken in” look to the eyes that many magic users share. The acid has the beneficial property of “melting” any malignant text or trapped runes; the image is essentially burned away within the Wizard's eye before it reaches their brain to process it. This is a required surgery for any Sorcerer who wishes to read books made by other paranoid and possessive magicians.

[6] As you examine the corpse, you see several lumps under the skin around the wizard's body, hinting at internal tumors. The lungs start to change color, shift, and smell quite strangely as they mutate post mortem. The tumors are changing into metals, which were otherwise being manufactured or produced by the Sorcerer's body.

After one turn, the Sorcerer's body doubles in weight as some of the lumps turn to iron and lead. After two turns, being touched by water causes a burning stinging cloud to form from the Sorcerer's body; the lithium in their body reacting and exploding violently. After three turns, you can fish through the Wizard's corpse to find 1d3 nuggets of gold, worth 300c each.

[7] As the final blow hits the Sorcerer, their body releases a cloud of spores. These spores only infect dead things; any meat or corpses you are carrying will similarly be infected by the spores. The Sorcerer's corpse and all affected flesh sprouts mushroom heads- they grow from tiny buds into four inch long fruiting bodies in a matter of minutes. After one turn, these spore heads release spores again, infecting all nearby dead things again, spreading the chain of infection.

After one hour, any flesh hosting the mushroom spores will start to turn into putrid slime, pooling together and flowing like water. This will attract all manner of filthy creatures. Slimes will autogenerate from the pool of liquid; 1d6 HD worth of slimes per human sized corpse or amount of meat. If this mushrooming phenomena happened on the site of a great battle or within a large coven of Sorcerers, it's highly likely the entire surrounding countryside would be enveloped by slimes. Sorcerers tend to know the secret words that can control these mindless creatures, hence infecting oneself with these mushroom spores is a useful method to take back territory even after you die.

[8] Upon killing the Sorcerer, their sleeves must be rolled down or their clothes removed to reveal this feature. The corpse has holes along the arms; small nooks which are tiny nestboxes for even tinier sparrows. The bright-blue birds chirp and fly away the moment they are uncovered. For the next three days, the weather in the surrounding area becomes stormy and unpredictable, local wildlife acts strangely, cats wander far away from the houses and farms they are supposed to be ratting. It's as if nature itself is trying to kill these birds as fast as possible, and make sure they do not establish a foothold or create nests outside of the bodies of Sorcerers.

These birds, as with many species created by Sorcerers, has been purposefully designed to fulfill a purpose. These birds have flammable feathers and, if they are incinerated alive under the darkness of a new moon, the ashes will contain an amount of magical energy useful for several arcane practices.

[9] The moment the Sorcerer dies, all light around its corpse grows one level dimmer. Light spells and lanterns become like torches, torches become candles, candles glow like fireflies or not at all. This has the normal effect on vision and corresponding negatives for trying to fight in dark places.

The ability to reduce light is commonly associated with attempts to preserve the physical body after death- light speeds up the decomposition by attracting flies and insects. Lesser magicians have this adaptation to serve as better undead servants after death, powerful sorcerers retain it so they may raise themselves from the dead in a less severe state of undeath afterwards.

[10] Whatever weapon was used to kill the magician is now magnetically attracted to it, if it's made of metal. It is pulled towards their body and sticks to it so hard that only someone with a Strength of 18 or higher could pull it out. Every round you keep the blade away from the body, the magnetic force gets stronger and stronger, soon trying to pull the sword out of the scabbard or from a long distance or even bending the blade if you can hold it back. If the weapon touches the corpse for at least one exploration turn, the magnetic effect wears off.

The purpose of this enchantment is to catch returning arrows or boomerang-style weapons so the user can be disarmed or the weapon identified. Mostly given to Sorcerers who work as low ranking guards for higher powered ones; this enchantment is hard to remove though so most who ascend through the ranks end up keeping it later in life.

[11] After the Sorcerer dies, you feel a faint rumbling in the ground. Make a saving throw to duck for cover. After 1d3 rounds, they explode with iron swords, daggers, arrows, and magic weapons. On a failed save, take three attacks from three random weapons. These require a to-hit roll, and use the magic weapons bonus to modify the to-hit.

Naturally, many wizards are packrats that steal whatever magical gear they can, even if they can't make good use of it with their weak arms and bodies. Regardless, after death, the spells that keep these weapons and items in extradimensional space cease to function, and these tools of destruction must return to the mortal plane with explosive results.

[12] The body disintegrates. If you're touching it on the moment of death (such as with a hand to hand attack), you must save or take 3d6 damage from the disintegration field.

Some Sorcerers don't want to be brought back.

[Class] Sauceror

Sauceror

HD- d4

Maximum AC- 12 / Minimum Starting Hit-Points- 2

You are the inheritor of the Ancient Brotherhood of Gravy Makers. Their secrets are protected by your guild; the Saucerors. You have a distrust of the Pastamancers, but most tolerate them due to the truce between your two factions. You were taught the truths of the universe, and that everything is Sauce at its most basic level. To learn to control the cosmic sauce is to learn true enlightenment.

Rename your Intelligence score to Mysticallity. You can now swap your highest stat with it, if you choose. You don't get any of the normal benefits of Intelligence, treat all rolls requiring Intelligence as a modifier of +0 instead. You use Mysticality to power all your spells.

You can cast spells, but not normal spells. You only cast spells based on Sauces. You can learn spells from the MU or Cleric list, but only if somehow converted into a Sauce-based spell. For example, you could convert Sleep into a spell you can use if you can use by making it into a Turkey Baste. Any action like this requires additional cooking time, ingredients, and +50% to the normal research cost.

Beyond casting sauce-based spells, your power lies in cooking. You can cook various reagents from monsters, animals, plants, or more esoteric ingredients to cook either hot or cold sauces. Placing a “hot” sauce on a food item before eating it will restore 1d6 hit points from cold damage, as will placing a “cold” sauce on a food item before eating it will restore 1d6 hit points from hot/fire damage.

Additionally, using a turn to prepare and bottle a cooked sauce for later will allow you to create scrumptious reagents that can be used to power more impressive spells. You can create a maximum of one scrumptious reagent per day of downtime, which increases to two at 5^th level and above. Drinking one reagent allows you to boost your Mysticallity modifier by +1 for the next spell.

At 10^th level, you are a Sauceror Supreme and can now cast the most impressive Saucey spells. You also gain the power of turning your blood into sauce. Through one season of downtime, you can reduce any physical stat you have by -1d6 in return for a roll of +1d3 to your Mysticallity. These effects can be reversed with another season of downtime.

Saucepell Table

LVL	1st Level	2nd Level	3rd Level	4th Level
1	2
2	2	1
3	3	2
4	3	2	1
5	4	3	1
6	4	3	2
7	5	4	2
8	5	4	3
9	5	5	4
10	5	5	4	1

The Lost Mystique of the MU, and How to Fix It (Long Rant)

I once made up a dumb quote. It went like this; “Fantasy is just retrofuturism for the Pre-Sciences.” It's pretty dumb, I know, but I think it has a lot of merit. Fantasy worlds and media tends to focus on the beliefs of ancient peoples, and then show those beliefs as being how the world actually works in the body of fiction. Gods are real and grant blessings or curses. Secret knowledge can cure diseases, or create energy or matter from nothing.

Side note: I began writing up  this "rant" several months ago, and lo and behold Goblin Punch had to write an article about this very thing I'm complaining about and beat me to it.

This is a short essay about magic users, why I'm upset with them, and why I changed them into something else. I've marked this as a 'rant', which is a tag I usually use for long rambling nonsense like this, so feel free to skip it if it isn't your thing.

Art @Sarunas Macijauskas

PART 1: WHY MAGIC EXISTS (in games)

Note- This isn't talking about Magical or “Supernatural” elements as a whole, but specifically the type of “Magic” that spellcasters can use. Witches, Sorcerers, etc. Casting spells and making charms are both common things in fantasy media. Having a role dedicated to the pursuit of magic is sensible, logical, and fits in perfectly with a game about loose archetypes. The Fighter. The Magic-User. The Holy Man. The Elf. These are classic classes which the original game of D&D was built around. Over time, these roles changed to be less thematic and more practical, though paradoxically some of the implied coverages of the classes (the Fighter, specifically) was reduced to give rise to extra bonus classes like the Barbarian and Ranger. Please note, I am not actually a D&D historian, so any of all of this could be wrong, but it's right for my essay.

While some worlds feature wild magic, natural magic, or supernatural elements, this is distinct from the concept of “Magic” as a craft or profession. Magic is a force that can be manipulated in the form of spells, items, incantations and so on. The idea behind giving magic a purpose and a use in a game is extremely simple. For one, it gives a use for “smart” characters. While in real life smarts is obviously really good, you need something in a “game” where the players control the character using their real life intelligence. Obviously in real life being smart is extremely beneficial as it comes with the ability to create plans or understand the natural world better, but in a fantasy game? Players already do that. Player characters instead need a vector to be smart, and in a world without computers to hack or technology to build and repair, making smarts central the “magic class” makes perfect sense. Wizard means Wise Man after all.

We can see this role personified in fantasy media as the Wizard. This is a catch all category, including Sorcerers, Half-Magic Gish types, Evil Witches, Druids to an extent. Putting this role in a game to play makes sense. Plus, magic systems are some of the easiest things to tweak and hack, and making up new spells and magic unique stuff is both easy, rewarding, and lets you flex creativity.

"Pig in Time" @Andrea Radeck

PART 2: FANTASY MAGIC =/= GAME MAGIC

However, there is a problem. Fantasy Magic as we see in media doesn't exactly match the magic we see in games. This is a general rule, not based on the specific games people play. While Vancian magic isn't common outside of Dying Earth and D&D material, it has all the trappings of standard pop culture and fantasy magic. Spells to turn people into animals? Easy. Spells to control weather? Sensible. Spells to summon beings from other worlds? Control minds? Cast wishes? Etc.

These have the surface level of magic being the same, but the magic we want to see and enjoy conceptually doesn't really work in game rules. Now this isn't to say there aren't some games with better magic systems then others mechanically or flavorwise, but most games there is a disconnect between magic and fantasy magic. It's gameified for use in the game, but cannot be specific enough to allow for all the cool interactions we'd like to see and give each spell a high fantasy/mythological feel. It also can't be general enough to let the players run amok with it, as they would quickly find a way to break the system. Even with the best possible group and DM, I struggle to think of a way to put magic into a game that would be as cool or flexible as the magic we see in books and TV.

This disconnect is the same as the one in video games. In a video game, your character might be a Wizard with a few select powers and spells, but you'll get quests where you need to find a specific item for a specific NPC to cast a specific ritualized spell that you simply don't have access to. Why? Obviously it's the limitations of the medium, but tabletop games still have this issue. Your Wizards can't suddenly put two and two together and think of how to end the evil rampaging spell by mixing a few magical reagents and using their knowledge to know it will be strongest when cast on the full moon. This shit isn't in any game books and has to be made up by the spots, which hey isn't that bad and I want to do it, but you can't make a rule to do it.

Art @ThemeFinland

PART 3: MAGIC SUCKS

Magic in games sucks. I hate it. Reading spell lists got boring after my first game. I want too much out of it, I'm not even saying it's objectively bad. I just don't like it. If spells are too orderly and procedural, like having ice, fire, and lightning balls all listed out with the same mana cost and damage but just with different elements, I'm bored. If you have D&D of a few basic attack spells but in different intensities and forms; Shocking Grasp, Burning Hands, Cone of Cold. All different forms of attack but all doing the same basic thing, which is more interesting but doesn't feel complete enough.

Like I said, I'm enormously picky. I want myth and legend, or more accurately, my shitty pop culture understanding and personal feelings of it, to be codified into game rules. Thus losing their 'magic' no matter how good it is.

I feel like games can do a lot better. Some of this discussion is spurred on by balance, but it's not an exclusive issue. Magic is something I've thought about a lot, even on this blog. I've read many rulebooks exclusively for their magic content, and have had many online discussions about magic. As such, I feel as though my homebrew can be put to end this entirely self centered problem, though I am by no means claiming to be the absolute most expert in this topic. It took a long time, but I think I have finally found the solution.

The problem is the archetypal Wizard.

The Wizard doesn't exist in mythology, really. It does, but not the fireball slinging Wizard of D&D fame. As many have stated before, the “self learned scholar who learns magical power” isn't much of a thing in traditional fantasy. Almost all Wizards are Gods, angels, or supernatural innately. Magic tends not to be the province of humans, except for the real life magic of folklore. Things like drawing a talisman to ward off evil or creating a curse tablet to spurn the lover who left you. We can see here that the type of magic avaliable to the “player characters” would be more subtle stuff- based on Fate, the supplication of the spirits, alchemy (to explain their limited understanding of chemistry), and so forth. This is the way these people thought the world actually worked. It's retrofuturism of prescience.

The other problem is that this type of magic that isn't really present in myth and legend, it is also too exclusive. The idea that magic items are “enchanted” by a Wizard to give them power is one of the most cancerous ideas ever. I despise this concept. Ancient blades of power are forged through secrets that blacksmiths know, not some arcane mana-points Wizards put into it. Anyone can pray to the Gods for guidance and a blessing against the forces of evil, not just a specific class or feature.

Art @pita

PART 4: WIZARDS ARE COOL THO

But magic is cool! People like the Wizard. I like the Wizard. They are the perfect self insert for the “nerd” type of stereotype, using intelligence and cleverness. To possess forces beyond the physical body. It's extremely interesting, both to imagine and use in a game, to have these types of powers. It's not even exclusively a power fantasy either, it makes for interesting gameplay. What other character type can reasonably have abilities this powerful? If you gave it something like super heroes, they'd be too powerful conceptually to exist in these kinds of worlds because they'd just always have access to these powers. But by putting it into magic, he can give it rules and restrictions. Checks and balances.

Magic is also extremely easy to build for. Entire magic systems, fictional or otherwise, inspire entire ideas out of them. How settings work. How empires and warfare would work with access to powers like this. I've created entire backwards ideas just for this- Gold and gems are among the few things magic can't duplicate. It has “antimagical” properties innately. That's why Kings and Queens wear crowns and jewelry on their heads and bodies. It's a great little idea that nestles in your head. Not just that, but magic systems almost by themselves define the fictional world they are in. I've created what feels like dozens of magic systems myself for this exact reason.

The best magic systems are, in my opinion, either closely tied to the setting they come from, or things so tightly interwoven with a class or identity they become indistinguishable. This faerie class by ATWC is still one of my absolute favorite “casters” I've ever seen, it's at the very least the best Elf-as-class expy I've ever seen. But I have a problem with these solutions. I don't have a super specific setting, I'm not Tolkien. I want gameplay classes that can fit into many different settings or campaign types. As generalist as possible, lacking flavor, but having flavor on the back end. Of course, this entire rant can just be ignored if you like making classes based on thematic concepts. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just not something I'm personally doing. Hence the issue.

On top of all that, giving spells to people is one of the only ways to get the fantasy game out of its rut of human-capability. You can also offer things like superhuman races or mutations, magic items, and other powers that the DM rules in stead of a set spell or magic system, but those alone won't work alongside the abilities of player character needing a “magic expert”. The Wizard doesn't fit into what I consider the gameplay loop, not just of my pseudo-OSR standard D&D homebrewing, but into most games. Creating classes based on gameplay needs is superior to creating one on a thematic basis, because it the gameplay centric classes, like the “tank” or “healer” if you want to use video game terminology, can be directly interfaced into gameplay.

But there's a problem with all of this. This is invented. It wasn't wholly invented by D&D of course, but it partially was; you can see its influence in early video games. If it wasn't Gygax somebody else would have probably capitalized on the Gandalf/Odin symbolism and make something popular. Once again, I want to stress that I'm not saying Wizards only came from this; there are Conan's rival sorcerers, Lovecraft's occultists calling upon the power of the old gods, and other examples. But the countless video games, movies, newer fantasy books and so on, in my opinion, have been tainted. Magic is a force to be manipulated, not the way the fantasy world works at its core.

Art @Christina Kraus

PART 5: THE FANTASY SPACE

The Fantasy World isn't the real world. This is my biggest problem with magic users and magic since I started this hobby. It took me a long time to start understanding it, but I think I am ready to explain it. The problem is people can't throw away their understanding of our world, taught to you in schools and based on scientific learning. You can't immerse yourself in a culture that is objectively wrong. But you can, because in the fantasy world, they are right. Another great resources to help me understand this better was this blogpost by Skerples, which is highly recommended for reading this essay. His writings on Medieval culture and beliefs are extremely helpful for anyone who wants to better make or break fantasy worlds. Another is this excellent summary from darkshire.net

In the fantasy world, dragons do not fly because they have some special magically force that uplifts them. Nor do they need (though many have) some lighter then air gas-sac to explain this issue away. They fly because the God of Fire created them to serve as his messengers. The normal human weaknesses we understand innately do not exist in the fantasy space unless you chose them to be there. People in real life come back from long military campaigns with injuries and wear that makes them permanently crippled for life. In the fantasy world, fighting hard and surviving literally let you cultivate your life force and make you more powerful. Diseases are caused by foul smelling vapors and miasma, and fate is determined by the motions of the stars.

Of course, I'm not decrying sci-fi depictions of fantasy or more realistic, grounded campaigns. I'm just saying that they existing as this sort of “norm” is a problem. Magic Users are not necessarily the only people using magic. In fact, making a 'magic expert' a class at all presents the issue where they must be the best at magic, but since magic can do anything, and you put that magic in the control of the players and give them the direction, and pretty soon it is a toolbox. It's not mythical, it's not special, and it doesn't give the same "feeling" of what I'm after.

Meanwhile, mythology is rife with warrior-wizards. Some dude who kills hundreds of enemies, by himself, is not “mundane”. And you may say that those characters are Gods or blessed by a God- but neither are Wizards just “normal people” either. But yet you want high fantasy Wizards with low fantasy, “mundane” warriors? It's nonsensical. Also, I don't want to derail this too much into a hypothetical discussion about class balance, it isn't just about warriors vs wizards. My problem is farther reaching then that.

So I don't want these systems. I don't want magic in neat little spells, I want magic that everyone can use and profit from, something that makes the world of fantasy feel fantastic. I like Wizards, but I don't like them at the same time. Making rules for players to use magic that ticks all of my boxes is either impossible or so out of my reach as a designer I simply can't. Does that mean that magic should only be in the DM's toolbox as a Deus Ex Machina? Probably not- but can you do something close, while giving the players some fun enjoyment to be had? I don't see why not. I think you can do it, and if you can, then we can try to make it.

Of course, the problem then becomes, how do you gamify this?

Art @Vlad Tesoff (NSFW)

PART 6: THE NEEDS OF A GAME

So here's where all this comes from. I started playing tabletop games about 8 odd years or so ago, though I technically started much earlier then that playing “Adventurers” with whichever of my friends on campouts would tolerate playing pretend. And I guess what I did with the extra tent pole? It was a Wizard staff, you bet your ass it was. I remember learning about tabletop games like D&D and was mystified. In truth, most people learn D&D as their first game, but I kind of had an outsider perspective. I never knew exactly how D&D worked, how rolls and stats worked, what HD and AC and all that was until many years later. Instead, I read the monster manuals on the computer, or read the rulebooks for other games I found online like Ars Magica and Unknown Armies. I scoured the White Wolf wikis for every scrap of lore I could learn about Vampire, Werewolf, Wraith, Changeling, and Mage. And in short? I was really, really interested in the magic systems.

But enough of a history lesson. Why am I telling you this? So I can say my next bit with authority. The Wizard isn't a role. It's a thematic role, not a real one. Games are based on gameplay and game mechanics. Roles are based on those mechanics. The idea behind a game (and the game-world you want to present to be as logically consistent with the game as possible, but that's a topic for another day) is that the characters and archetypes for a group are all doing something central and important for the game. There is no practical difference between a character who has an unlimited use magical ranged blast power and a Fighter with a bow. Hanging up these classes and archetypes on the symbols and aesthetics instead of the practical terms isn't in my opinion great game design.

But then there's the other problem, what is great game design?

In my opinion then, the best games are designed with the core gameplay in mind. I've kind of fallen out of favor of calling myself an “OSR” blogger because my stuff is more DIY. It's idea vomit, not based on old D&D manuals and not necessarily trying to replicate the gameplay and experiences of those people. And I want to mention I understand people who only want that kind of experience. Actual OSR gameplay is very much like historical reenactment in a way, it's like somebody bringing foam swords to a reenactment battle so they can have more fun when hitting each other. It's not the point of the exercise, even if it appears similar at a distance. So then, what is the core gameplay? What archetypes or classes are central to the core gameplay loop?

Well, in my opinion, the core gameplay elements are Fighting, Bypassing Obstacles, and Resource Management. Other elements of the game such as mapping is a mostly meta-game outside of the game (so you don't need a cartographer class), or things like social mechanics (which are mostly roleplayed and can be done by any character, dragging a diplomat along with your party wouldn't be fun in most games about dungeon exploration and high fantasy exploration, but they could be in say, a long distance silk road style game). Exploration and wonderment is also core to the game, but is something everyone is doing when they play, there's no real room for an 'explorer' class unless you're adding these thematic roles I talked about. This would mean if we were going to be “good” designers and cut down the classes or roles of the player characters to just those three tenants. Fighting. Bypass. Resources.

Well, what fantasy archetypes fit those closest? That would be Fighter, the Rogue, and then a Healer or support. This is an opinion of course; some could say the oldschool games with just Fighter, MU, and Cleric fit this description, but I personally prefer the whole “creative solutions” is better then a spell to handle things. It just fits anyway; the Rogue is more common of an archetype then a problem-solving Wizard who isn't a magical demigod. But I've ranted about this enough.

PART 7: THE SAGE SOLUTION

I ended up thinking long and hard about what kind of magic system I wanted in my game, and I decided that for the sake of my game's world, balance, and so forth- I wanted a support. I was done with the spell mastering, generic MU. Now I went through several steps- from imagining the fantasy class incarnations of the MU as more specific, interesting, and evocative. I thought of creating a unique magic words magic system, the second draft of with will probably never see the light of day. I instead thought of changing my class dynamic entirely. I went from mentally removing the concept of the Cleric (for the simple 3 class system of Fighter, Rogue, Magic-User that you see a lot in pop culture and I personally enjoy), to basically getting rid of the MU and putting the Cleric back in. But the problem persisted. I still like the aesthetics of a magic using robe guy. I still like the squishy guy in the backline. I still like the scholar and clever Wizard dude who mixes potions. I just don't like his artificial place of importance, his spells with no seeming guiding principle.

Eventually, I settled on creating a white magic user. Something that had a strict role in the party; as a support. The original idea was simple, a “class” that had the same weaknesses as a Wizard, but with the Cleric spell list. I really liked this idea at first, and after experimenting with the 2d6 rolls to cast spells vs a contested opponent I shamelessly stole from another blog, This was the original draft of the Sage class, which I fortunately already found the perfect name for. This later was changed again when I realized that the magic was unnecessary too. I want to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the old fashioned “keep everything as grounded/boring as possible to make the more magical parts stand out!” even though that's basically what I ended up doing. But it's because, in my opinion, I hope to have created a new movement or paradigm shift. You can think that is hyperbole for what I have created, and you might be right, but I sincerely think what I ended up settling on is pretty good.

And that is the Sage. The non-magical variety. It has everything you could want in the archetypal MU, but none of the issues that come with it.

The Sage is a guide. The Wise-Man. They value Intelligence (for knowledge and magic) and Wisdom (for healing). Their healing is their primary 'combat' or game mechanic ability, but in universe they're all about knowledge and learning. They'll be the most literate characters in settings where that's an issue. They'll probably know the most languages, they can decipher the ancient runes. They have everything the MU has, in a nice and easily digested package. They fit into basically every setting- it's much more sensible to imagine a temple priest or old wise man from the woods as a Sage then a magical MU with this many spells and components. They also fit into basically every society too, no longer do you have to either handwave the issue of powerful entities with mind controlling, transmuting, teleporting, or other potentially setting-breaking spells. Not saying this is an inherent problem for everyone who runs a D&D game; any DM can create good reasons or sufficiently explain away this issue. They also fit, in my mind, on my imaginary list of armor classes and HD rolls- I never liked Clerics being stronger then Rogues. Now its goes Sage, Rogue, Fighter in combat strength and armor. Sages just do all of this for me in a way that I like. They fit the last checkbox on my list of checkboxes.

The best part about all of this is, as a DM, my control over the game means I can still have what I want. You can still insert all your favorite magic system ideas. The whole idea of forcing spirits to due your bidding? Magic is exclusively down through alchemy? Magical words have power if learned and spoken in the right order? All of it still works in the game with the Sage. You can slap on the Sage with some bonuses to this to make them more 'magic' focused but it probably isn't required. I want the Fighter to learn a magic word to improve his swordplay. I want the Rogue to drink a potion that lets her talk to birds so she can spy on people. This is fantasy. You don't even really sacrifice powerful end game things like high level spells and magic item crafting; the players can still get the magical stuff at the “late game” to make the game world more convenient. Instead of a flying spell, grant them a flying carpet. Like I said earlier, I think finding a way to climb out of a pit is more interesting then the MU burning a single spell to accomplish it, but with high character levels or campaigns that can scale on many different vector, the ability to make certain things trivial (usually with magic user spells in other games) can still be done. The Sage also looks and feels like a Wizard in play, squishy, all about dem' artifacts. Still a keeper of knowledge, but more about the healing art. Maybe for the pseudo-intellectuals in your group, they can pride themselves on playing the “most complex class” which is normally a MU, but in this game it's still the Sage. So this imaginary strawman I just made up can be smug and eltist about being a support class, which is a perfect solution- take that, imaginary strawman. Plus, you can do one better and make everyone capable of doing magic with the systems above. It's all based on your in game knowledge, resources, and character level or stats. How much your willing to sacrifice, or what spirits owe you a favor? This is magic in its best form.

I haven't even sacrificed the aesthetics. Sages still carry books and bags filled with stuff. They're still everything a scholarly, somewhat magical inclined character would want. Plus, you can even keep their combat abilities similar too. I have recently fallen in love with this idea; “arcane” to hit rolls modified by Intelligence and magic “weapons” in the form of wands and staves. Normally in games these are magical artifacts in and of themselves, you find a rod of fireballs. Instead, here, they're relatively common weapons for the bright and gifted. You can tell the Sage he's still a Wizard, just wave a wand and blast some energy at an enemy. It's not nearly as powerful as a Sleep spell, but hey, it's aesthetically close without having this song and dance about resource management vs impact vs cost of replacing the resources in the resource-management minigame AND much less of a hassle to balance encounters around. Plus, you can take it away; it's not that annoying problem of Wizards being at full power regardless of their situation as long as they have spells prepared. If you're separated from your stuff, you're just as toast as everyone else. You still keep resource management not based around combat with other in game items. Good players know how to use things like marbles, chalk, ropes and such to their advantage in a dungeon. These resources still run out. Using a more complex first aid system; those items run out. Create a game where they're scrambling to collect, carry, and use these over spell slots and I think you have a more interesting and engaging game environment. For everyone- the players and DM included.

AFTERWORD

This rant began as a explanation over why I became invested in creating the concept behind the “Sage” class and why I truly enjoy it so much, despite it going through several, sometimes contradictory, iterations and levels. It quickly ballooned out into this massive history lesson.

Secondly, I want to state that this does not mean I am done writing spell lists, classes that use spells, or new magic systems. I enjoy these things very much, this is simply my way of finally expressing a long, complex process of figuring out what I like in fantasy, and how I solved a 'problem'. I truly believe that many people who have problems with roleplaying games, finding them meaningful or lacking in that creative spark, that this very well could be your solution. I sincerely believe in what I write here, and you, dear reader, are to be the judge of it. Thank you for reading.

6 First Level Summoning Spells

[1] Cappyrs Snake - 1^st level

Out of the palm of the caster's hand comes a long black tube that writhes in midair. It is a Cappyrs Snake, a special type of constrictor without a head. Its long black body ungulates around as though it can fly, and constricts and attempts to crush anything it wraps around even though it cannot see or eat; it still targets living beings before attacking objects.

When summoned normally, this spell takes a full round to extend out of the caster's hand, becoming a long 3 HD snake which deals 1d8 damage each round it crushes someone. It can only be escaped on a successful save at -3, the save difficulty being increased if the snake has a higher HD. It has an AC of 14 from its scales and attacks anyone- it has no loyalty to its caster. It will attack the nearest being when summoned, but is ejected at about the range of a spear's thrust when the spell it cast. While this spell is quite powerful compared to most 1^st level spells, the fact the snake is a truly neutral and aggressive creature makes this spell more powerful; normal summoning spells are restricted in power at 1^st level simply due to needing the spell to be “safe” before casting. Not so for the Cappyrs Snake.

Additionally, the snake can be “cut” down to size when summoning it, by chopping at its body with a karate chop by the spell caster. You can make the snake “small” at 1 HD and d4 damage, or “medium” at 2 HD and d6 damage, or keep it as the normal large version. This requires the caster to make a saving throw vs magic to successfully do, and on a failure the snake isn't put out far enough and attacks the magic user instead. The snake lasts for 6 combat rounds.

[2] Monitor Monitor - 1^st level

This spell makes a lizard. The small monitor lizard is a 1 HD creature with a 1d4+1 bite and an AC of 14 from its fast feet and scaled skin. The monitor lizard is like any other, and has a reptile brain filled with nothing but thoughts of food and fighting, and maybe fucking, though its unlikely to get a chance since this dimension doesn't have its exact species.

The monitor monitor is extremely territorial. It will attack absolutely anything that enters its “territory”, which is wherever it is summoned, usually a single room or small copse. The monitor will not attack the party as it considers them objects in its territory, unless they leave and try to reenter the area. It will attack giant monsters, armored warriors, terrifying ghouls or literally anything else that tries to come in, biting and gnashing with its claws, even breaking its teeth against foes too tough for it to bite. The monitor will always fight to the death and lasts for 6 turns until it disappears.

[3] Sunlit Marble - 1^st level

Conjuring this marble requires a source of direct sunlight, though it can be sunlight produced through a magical item or spell. The spell condenses a small amount of the sunlight into a small marble which floats in mid air. If the marble is hit with an attack (AC 20 for ranged attacks since it's so small, but no need to roll for melee since it doesn't move) that deals 4 damage or more, it is shattered. Beyond this, the sunlight marble can continually produce light as a torch in its same spot for up to one full hour before fizzing out, allowing sunlight to be sustained in a small area even after night falls or if the sky is magically blocked by darkness.

The Sunlit Marble is an intelligent creature. It holds sunlight in itself and has a love and respect for all life, while it has a hatred of the undead. Every round, it casts turn Undead as a level 4 Cleric, and all Undead must flee its radius of light on a turned result. It can deal normal damage or kill vampires, if they were dumb enough to enter the field of light. 

The sunlit marble can 'speak' in slow pulses of light that let it communicate; it can report what it has seen but only knows the difference between things if they are “bad” (undead), “good” (alive), or “tickles” (plants, because they feed off its sunlight).

[4] Summon Groveling - 1^st level

The Groveling are the most pathetic race to exist. This isn't an opinion, it's a fact. Grovelings occupy a cosmic position on the hierarchy of all beings, they are much lower then most pets and are certainly lower then even the most low born human; most trees are higher on the scale. They are “people” in the lowest possible state they can be. Grovelings are beings that exist to serve other beings, and are often summoned by goblin Sorcerers looking for an ego boost. They aren't native to the normal dimension, as any world that has predators would be too dangerous for Grovelings.

When a Groveling is conjured, it will instantly bow down before and furiously worship the first living being it sees. They appear as gremlin-like creatures, with patchy fur (it doesn't grow back), bright sad eyes, and a tiny frame. Most are less then 2 feet tall. They have washed out colors that prevent them from being attractive or beautiful but they are too colorful to blend into their surroundings. They are as intelligent as a kobold or goblin, and can use tools, but are simply pathetic. All Grovelings have 1d2 hit points, an AC of 5, and deal ½ a point of damage on a successful hit in combat with any weapon- this means that at least one other Groveling must hit the target for a single point of damage to be made, or the target be hit with a small nonlethal attack, be a near miss for an AoE spell, be cursed, or have some other method to make the half a point of damage tick to a full point. The exception to this rule is for swarms of tiny beings like worms or insects; Grovelings can kill a single member of the swarm per round. While a single member of the swarm is just an annoyance to you, and the swarm is the danger, to a Groveling the individual of a swarm is like a wolf it must face in deadly single combat.

While extremely weak, the Summon Groveling spell is a commonly taught first summon for many magic users. Grovelings have names and can therefore the same individual can be summoned multiple times if they don't die (unlikely). They stay within this realm for the duration of 1 day, and will obey any order given to it by an intelligent being who isn't directly trying to murder it; they are spinelessly loyal to a fault and will tolerate a large amount of abuse before thinking of escape.

[5] Spinsticks - 1^st level

This spell creates a small white stick. The stick is actually a living creature from another world; a close look reveals a small bump on its body where it's primary nervous system is located, small discolorations near each end are 'eye spots' to help right itself, and several centrifugal muscles help it perform its one job. When the stick is spun standing up, it keeps spinning for two turns. After the two turns is over, it has lost its energy and falls to the ground dead. The spinstick can act as a reliable timer in a place where normal methods of keeping time do not function or are influenced by malign forces. The spinsticks can also act as a distraction or trap by spinning something on its head; a plate or flaming candle dish that falls into the oil on the floor when the stick stops spinning.

[6] White-Faced Oil Monkey - 1^st level

This spell conjures a White-Faced Oil Monkey. The creature is a small, long tailed monkey with a painted white face like geisha. It carries a small gourd with a stopper around its neck, which is filled with oil with a blueish tint. The power of the White-Faced Monkey is that it can communicate with any creature with hands using a type of special sign language. As such, it can communicate with lemurs and raccoon, as well as larger monkeys and apes, and then translate these to humans using a more complex form of sign language, or by writing down what was said on a piece of paper provided to it. The monkey notes that otters have a distinct “water” accent, and the monkey cannot communicate with oceanic creatures even with hands, as their accent is too foreign.

The monkey is a 1 HD creature, but has an AC of 18 as it can dodge, jump, dance, and easily avoid almost all physical attacks. It cannot attack. The monkey is not a slave but will follow and obey whoever summoned it, becoming playful and playing pranks if ignored or running away if put into a bad situation on purpose by its master.

Finally, the monkey carries oil. The oil in its flask is a blue spirit oil, which flows like water for living beings, but is as slippery as the Grease spell for any spirits, ghosts, or intangible beings. This can prevent many ghosts from materializing, as they must stay still to do so, where as this oil will make them slip away. The monkey lasts for up to 1 turn if summoned for communication, or for 1 round to pour out its oil and vanish, as it ceases to exist when its oil is removed from its gourd.